Advocaat: We are not a team, and it is very frustrating

Chris Young

Sunderland have been a shadow of the side which doggedly fought for survival during Dick Advocaat’s nine-game tenure at the end of last season.

Again, there was an utter lack of cohesion in Sunderland’s ranks in today’s 3-1 defeat to Norwich (following on from last week’s 4-2 loss at Leicester), with the Black Cats proving a stark contrast to their well-drilled opponents.

Advocaat said: “Last season, everybody had to do what we asked. It was a quite simple system.

“But that is not working anymore at the moment.

“We have to find an answer as quick as possible.

“It was very frustrating. Not only losing 3-1, but again the way we’ve played, I did not expect it.

“In pre-season, we trained hard, the games were not good, but you hope that the shape will come back.

“But it is very difficult to explain the reason why we are not a team – 11 players play, but we are not a team.